ND product Bielfeldt played some valuable minutes in Big Ten win

Friday

Mar 14, 2014 at 6:58 PM

JAMAL COLLIEROF GATEHOUSE MEDIA ILLINOIS

INDIANAPOLIS — Midway through the second half of Michigan’s 64-63 victory over Illinois on Friday, Peoria native Max Bielfeldt checked into the game to provide some valuable minutes while the Wolverines’ starters were in foul trouble.

Bielfeldt, a redshirt sophomore, appeared in 16 games during the regular season and scored 15 points and grabbed 16 rebounds as he develops under head coach John Beilein’s system.

“I’ve been feeling good,” Bielfeldt said. “Having my days where I play really well and having my days where I don’t feel too well. Overall I’m just trying to work and get where I know I can be. That’s working everyday in weight room to get more athletic.”

He tries to get back to Peoria when he can, although basketball has limited his recent visits to just two days for Christmas and a couple days in October.

Bielfeldt, who graduated from Notre Dame in 2011, is listed at 6-foot-7 and 245 pounds. He averaged 20.0 points and 11.2 rebounds during his high school career and finished as the career leader in points and rebounds.

During his first year at Michigan, Bielfeldt redshirted and served as a member of the scout team. He appeared in 20 games as a redshirt freshman during Michigan’s run to the national championship game last season.

Michigan won the Big Ten regular-season championship this year and advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament with its victory on Friday.

“This year you can have a game where Nik (Stauskas) is hot or G (Glenn Robinson III) or Caris (LeVert) is hot; it’s a lot of fun,” Bielfeldt said. “There’s a lot of ball sharing going around.

“So (I’m gaining) much more of an understanding from the game. How important everything from spacing is to timing on screens. There’s just so much I need to know.”

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